Rictusempra!
by Queen Tonda O Lay
Summary: A duel takes place between One young Mr. Potter and one young Mr. Malfoy but things are not quite what you expect.  not a slash


Somewhere deep within Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry there was a duel taking place. Two boys, both in their sixth year, one with neatly coiffed hair of a blond so light that it was nearly the color of snow, and the other with a thick mop of messy jet black hair that stuck out at all angles despite any and all attempts to tame it, put their agility, reflexes, and knowledge to the test. Each had a roaring temper with a short fuse, one little spark and _BOOM_ they went off like bombs.

Bombs that were wreaking havoc through the long deserted corridor in which they were fighting. School books and bags lay long forgotten where they were carelessly discarded. Disturbed dust kicked up by the first signs of activity seen there in many years floated in the air, illuminated by the shafts of light from the rising crescent moon that shone through the ancient glass windows. The sounds of ragged breath, shouts followed by flashes of brightly colored light, and the pounding of foot steps echoed off the stone walls and drifted down the corridor only to fall upon deaf ears. Not even the lively portraits that covered the wall of the great castle resided close enough to hear.

It was a warm late April night, sweat dripped from their brows as they volleyed, sending hex after hex at each other. Each one was determined to out do the other, driven by pride to hold out longer the their opponent regardless of the fact that they were tired, hungry, and sweaty. Neither knew how long they had been at it, the Sun had been kissing the horizon goodnight when the skirmish began but wether that had been minutes or hours ago was anyones guess.

Determined to come out on top they egged each other on in hopes of finding a moment of weakness and seizing an opportunity.

"Come on Potter, is that the best you got?" Taunted the blond as he effortlessly blocked his opponents last hex, sending a flock of angry birds in return.

Vanishing the birds with a flick of his wand the the black haired boy sneered "Not on your life, Malfoy." At the top of his lungs he cried "_Serpensortia!_ "

From the tip of his wand sprang a large Emerald Green Boa who landed on the stone floor with a dull thud and an angry hiss. The conjurer of said serpent began speaking in a low hissing whisper like language, Parseltongue, the language of snakes. On his master's command the snake began slithering forward quickly advancing on it's target. Malfoy made an attempt to out run it but the snake lunged forward tightly winding it's self around his legs, sending him crashing to the floor. His wand fell from his pale hand, upon hitting the ground it bounced across several stone tiles before rolling to a stop near a wall. "Ready to admit defeat Malfoy?" Potter asked smugly,a look of triumph clear in his startlingly green eyes that seemed to glow from the shaft of silvery light cast on them. "Not on your life." Ignoring the hissing protests of his leg binding, the boy rolled onto his stomach pulled himself across the floor to where his wand lay.

Wand back in hand, he vanished the snake and got back on his feet, ready to fight.

In a flash of light several large Bats erupted from Potter's nose one after another, swarming his face. Seemingly oblivious to the mucus made assailants he retaliated

_"Tarantallegra" _ Malfoy lost control of his legs as they began against his will, steeping in time to unheard music played from a non existent instrument.

Taking aim he waited until he was facing the black haired boy again and fired

_"Densaugeo!" _ in less then a second Potter's front teeth were four times their normal size.

Another jinx flew and the blond found himself hitting the dusty floor one more, legs still in motion.

Potter was soon to follow, finding himself unable to stand due to being hit with the _Jelly legs Jinx_. Wobbling he took several steps forward before his knees buckled, spiraling him across the stone floor. After making several futile attempts to stand, all which resulted in him crashing back down, he steeled for pulling himself into a sitting position.

Believing he claimed victory, the other young wizard, who watched in great amusement as his opponent repeatedly hit the ground, smirked, despite being exhausted and breathing heavily he opened his mouth to say some snide remark. To kick a horse while it's down so to speak. However he did not get the chance, for the "horse" may have been down but he was not dead.

_"Rictusempra!" _ A jet of silver light shot out, hitting him square in the chest. Immediately he doubled over, his hair looking nearly silver fell into his eyes, his chest violently heaving as he clutched his sides. Stumbling back a few steps he slid down the wall behind him. Taking gasping breaths he made an attempt to surrender. "A-all _gasp _r-r…ri-_gasp_-right! I..I _gasp_ I g..giv..ve, _gasp _I give! You…wi- win. Ju-juss-sst, Just s-s-st-st-ttt-to-op-stop t-t-t-ti-tic-ck-kl-l-i-i-ng- tickling m-m-me."

Complying with his wish there was a loud cry of _"Finite Incantatem!" _Immediately the tickling stopped, as did the bats that had been flying out of Potter's nose. Crawling he made his way over to the spot next to Malfoy who's arms where now draped over his head, and leaned against the wall. Both boys were sweaty, bruised, scraped, and panting. "You all right mate?" He asked, his green eyes falling on the other boys still heaving chest as it slowly returned to a slower rhythm. "Yeah," he nodded and after several deep berths he asked, "you?"

"Yeah I'm fine." For a few minutes all that could be heard was the sounds of heavy breathing as they sat there on the floor next to each other, leaning their heads back against the wall with their eyes closed.

"Potter?" At the call of his name the boy peaked one eye open and looked next to him. "Yeah Malfoy?"

"Your teeth alright?" he asked. "My teeth…" Looking confused for a second Potter ran his tongue over them. Sensing that they had returned to normal size and all was in order he nodded. "Sorry 'bout the snake." Now that he calmed down he honestly felt bad that he used it. He wouldn't have actually let it do an real harm, it was more to show off that he was one off only an extremely small hand full of wizards in the world who had the gift to talk to snakes.

" S'alright. No harm done." and then he added "Still think it's wicked you can do that. Talk to them I mean." The Parseltongue had to agree, it was pretty '_wicked_' that he could talk to snakes.

" Hey Scorpius, you may be my best mate and all, but if you ever hurt my little sister, I swear on Merlin's beard it won't be _Rictu-_sempra I use." Albus Potter said as his best friend got to his feet. "I don't doubt it." Scorpius admitted offering a hand to help his friend back onto his feet. Albus gratefully accepted the offered hand, but found that he was still unable to stand. " Scorp, you wanna un-jinx me now?"

"Oh, right." with a flick he un jinxed his friend, bracing him to stand on his own. "There you go. Um-uh we all good now?" He asked a bit nervously as they walked back to where they cast aside their bags. After all, he did just end up in a duel with his best mate for asking out his sister, Lily. They hadn't been aiming to inflict actual damage, mostly just hexes and jinxes they learned years ago, nothing serious or dangerous. "Yeah we're good." Albus grabbed his bag off the floor and threw it over his shoulder. "How about we go to Hogsmead and grab some Butterbeer. On me." He offered,pulling out an ancient looking piece of folded parchment and a cloak.

_"_Okay, but I'm paying." The blonde insisted grabbing his own stuff.

"I've got it,"

"But I insist."

"No, I insist,after all I offered first. _Malfoy!_"

"You may have offered first, but I'm the one who owes you. _Potter!"_

"You pay for me, I pay for you?"

"Deal."

"Wait till your father hears of this."

Scorpius grimaced at the thought. "I didn't even think of that, I was to busy worrying about you killing me. I'm pretty sure he is still not over the shock of discovering you and I are friends."

Al couldn't help but laugh a little bit at that, "Wasn't that in the begging of first year?" he asked.

His friend nodded.

"Well if he disowns you, you can come live with us. Dad would take you in, if only to piss off you father." Al joked.

"_Oh, Thanks. _We better get going if we want to get back by midnight."

Slinging an arm around Scorpius, Albus spoke; "You've got a lot to learn about my family if you're going to be dating my sister. You see mate, when you asked out Lily you actually asked out my whole family. And when I say whole family I don't mean Mum, Dad, James and I. I mean my _whole _family, all of us. And if you think I'm over protective, wait till you meet our uncles."

Scorpius stopped and looked at his friend "Your w-whole family?"

Albus nodded gravely.

"I'm going to regret this aren't I?" He asked

"Oh, you don't even know the half of it yet. You've never met my grandmother….I hope you like Christmas sweaters." said Al shooting him a mischievous smile.

"Grandmother…Christmas… sweaters?"

"You'll see… if you liv-I mean make it that long."

"If I…. Merlins beard what did I get my self into" Scorpius moaned looking at his friend for help. The look in Albus's eyes did nothing to help reassure him.

"You have _a lot _to learn."

He was doomed!

The two Slytherin boys laughed as walked down the empty corridor slipping under the Potter family Invisibility cloak, leaving only the echoes of their laughter as the only trace they were ever there.


End file.
